Washington, Jan 21, 2017: Several Indian-Americans gathered for a gala here to celebrate the inauguration of Donald Trump as the 45th US President, an event skipped by many from the community, with Shalabh Kumar, a key member of the President’s panel on Asia-Pacific affairs, also conspicuous by his absence.

At least a hundred Indian-Americans attended the gala that took place at the Grand Ballroom of the central Mayflower hotel in Washington on Friday, American Bazaar online reported.

“We were able to create a platform for the AAPI (Asian-American and Pacific Islanders) community to come together and celebrate the Trump election. The gala also made a strong statement that we are very much part of the American mainstream and will play an effective role in the next administration.”

Ahluwalia added that by showing up in good numbers, the Indian-American community has showed their desire for “the US-India relationship to be on the front and centre for the next administration”.

Dozens of dignitaries attended the event, including Congressman Ed Royce, chairman of the powerful Foreign Relations Committee, Representative Barbara Comstack, Guam Governor Eddie Baza Calvo, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands Governor Ralph DLG Torres as well as a number of Republican leaders from various Asian American and Pacific Islanders communities.

“The (Trump) administration is looking to increase its relationship with the Asian countries,” said Royce, the California Republican known to be one of the most staunchly pro-India voices in the US Congress.

“We should reach out to our friends in Asia. We will work to further and deepen this relationship,” said the chairman of the House Foreign Relations Committee.

Indian-American Republicans who were present included Californian K.V. Kumar, Floridian Harry Walia and Ahluwalia who along with Shalabh Kumar form Trump-Pence campaign’s Asian Pacific American Advisory Committee.

Shalabh Kumar was, however, not present.

The formal part of the ball began with a rendition of the US national anthem. Indian food and Bollywood dance were other highlights of the event.

Criticising the US President Donald Trump for his protectionists policies, Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman on Saturday accused President Trump of not taking his jobs seriously. Following the protectisists measures taken by the US President, there could be “risks of disruptive trade war”, he said.

President Donald Trump is heavily criticised. Wikimedia Commons

“He does not take the job seriously. He doesn’t say to himself that I am the most important official in the world; I have better do my homework for understanding the issue. ..He just goes that these are my gut feeling and hires people who make him feel good…that is a frightening prospect,” Krugman said responding to a query on his perception on Trump. On the economic issues President Trump’s gut feelings are “protectionist” and his views of America were “50 years out of date”.

“He wants America a heavy industrial country in the way it was when he was a young man. That is not just going to happen but he attempts to make it happen, which is extremely disruptive to America and to the global as a whole,” Nobel Laureate said. Krugman said he was until recently optimistic that Trump’s protectionist policies would not see the light of the day.

“Until about two weeks ago, I was quite optimistic that it would not happen. The reason was not because the President would get good economic advice but because the US businesses are invested in a globalised economy. All the investments the businesses have made is based upon the assumptions that the open trading system would continue. There is an enormous amount of fiscal capital and a large number of jobs are dependent on these value chains,” he said at the News18 Rising India Summit here.

Krugman further said: “I had assumed the influence of these business communities would be sufficient… that it would not happen. I am less optimistic now…we have seen reasonably sensible Economic Council Head was fired, completely irrational tariff (was) imposed on steel and aluminium.”

Krugman says these actions of President can cause a trade war. Wikimedia Commons

According to him, immediate issue is going to be confrontation not with China, but with Europe as the “steel tariffs” will hit Europe. He said there are possible risks of “disruptive global trade war”.

Speaking on Chinese economy he said, “China is a financial crisis waiting to happen. China is a widely unbalanced economy…the country is sustaining itself with a credit bubble that is waiting to burst…There is a significant risk of Chinese bubble burst.”